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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

CRRMA Gets Update on Proposed Northeast Parkway

Initial Highway Design Could Be Scaled Down

A brand new tollway could start construction in the next few years and give tractor-trailer traffic an alternate route around El Paso, helping to relieve Interstate 10 of some commercial congestion. The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) received an update on the proposed Northeast Parkway at its April 10th meeting.

The proposed tollway would circumvent the most congested parts of I-10.

Built as a four lane highway, the Northeast Parkway will eventually have interchanges at Loop 375, Dyer Street, US-54, McCombs Street, Martin Luther King Boulevard, NM Highway 404, and Interstate 10. The 21-mile project will span from Loop 375 near Railroad Drive in northeast El Paso, travel northwest across the state line into New Mexico, and connect to Interstate 10 near Anthony, New Mexico.

The CRRMA could opt to build a “Super 2” Concept which would initially defer the interchanges at Dyer and McCombs to a later date. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., of California presented the Super 2 Concept at the meeting, indicating the initial cost would be $188.4 million as opposed to $233.4 million for the ultimate design. The figures are only for the Texas portion and based on estimates prepared in 2009.

Cross sections of the Super 2 design show only one travel lane in each direction. A 10 foot bicycle path is also included. Bridge structures would be built to ultimate design, except for the deferred interchanges. Traffic projections for the ultimate design show up to 41,400 vehicles would use the tollway on a daily basis by the year 2032.